Putting FX's “Fargo” at No.1 on my list of 2014's Best TV Shows has not, apparently, landed me magic casting power on the second season. FX announced casting for the season's lead on Thursday (January 8) and, sorry Twitter followers and podcast listeners, it's not Joel Kinnaman.
Patrick Wilson is set to play Young Lou Solverson, Vietnam veteran and clean-cut Minnesota State Patrolman, the character who was played by Keith Carradine in the anthology's Emmy-winning first season.
While I will continue to insist that side-by-side pictures of 1975 Keith Carradine and 2015 Joel Kinnaman would have made this a no-brainer, Wilson's a pretty fine choice. The “Little Children” and “Watchmen” star was an Emmy nominee in 2004 for “Angels in America” and should been nominated for an Emmy for “Girls” in 2013. Wilson's most recent regular TV role was on CBS' short-lived “A Gifted Man.”
Lou's wife Betsy has yet to be cast, nor has four-year-old Molly, though my proposal of Allison Tolman wearing shoes on her knees remains available.
Also landing regular roles for the season are multiple Emmy winners Jean Smart and Ted Danson, joining previously announced Kirsten Dunst and Jesse Plemons.
Danson, who will be completing his work on “CSI” before beginning production on “Fargo,” will play Hank Larsson, sheriff in Rock County, Minnesota and Lou's father-in-law. Hank is described as “an unflappable WWII vet who embodies a certain cowboy poetry.”
Smart will play Floyd Gerhardt, the matriarch of a Midwestern crime family finally getting to take control after 40 years of standing by her husband.
In addition to those three regulars, an assortment of recurring “Fargo” players have been announced.
That casting is as follows:
*** Nick Offerman will play Karl Weathers, the town lawyer for Luverne, Minnesota. Karl is “a Korean War vet, Karl is a flowery drunk blessed with the gift of gab and the eloquence of a true con artist.”
*** Brad Garrett will play Joe Bulo, frontman for a new crime syndicate trying to push in from Kansas City, while Bokeem Woodbine will play Joe's enforcer Mike Milligan.
*** Jeffrey Donovan is set as Dodd Gerhardt, Floyd's eldest son, a hothead who isn't pleased to now be reporting to his mother. Angus Sampson will play Bear Gerhardt, Floyd's middle son, with Kieran Culkin as youngest Gerhardt Rye.
Production on “Fargo” Season 2 begins on January 19 in Calgary. The 10-episode prequel anthology will premiere next fall on FX.
Intrigued by the way this cast is shaping up?